Effect of type of luting agents on stress distribution in the bone surrounding implants supporting a three-unit fi xed dental prosthesis:3D fi nite element analysis

Abstract

Background: Osseointegration of dental implants is infl uenced by many biomechanical factors

that may be related to stress distribution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of type

of luting agent on stress distribution in the bone surrounding implants, which support a three-unit

fi xed dental prosthesis (FDP) using fi nite element (FE) analysis.

Materials and Methods: A 3D FE model of a three-unit FDP was designed replacing the maxillary

fi rst molar with maxillary second premolar and second molar as the abutments using CATIA V5R18

software and analyzed with ABAQUS/CAE 6.6 version. The model was consisted of 465108 nodes

and 86296 elements and the luting agent thickness was considered 25 μm. Three load conditions

were applied on eight points in each functional cusp in horizontal (57.0 N), vertical (200.0 N) and

oblique (400.0 N, θ = 120°) directions. Five different luting agents were evaluated. All materials

were assumed to be linear elastic, homogeneous, time independent and isotropic.

Results: For all luting agent types, the stress distribution pattern in the cortical bone, connectors,

implant and abutment regions was almost uniform among the three loads. Furthermore, the

maximum von Mises stress of the cortical bone was at the palatal side of second premolar. Likewise,

the maximum von Mises stress in the connector region was in the top and bottom of this part.

Conclusion: Luting agents transfer the load to cortical bone and different types of luting agents

do not affect the pattern of load transfer.

Key Words: Adhesive cement, dental implants, fi nite element analysis